A new rumour doing the rounds suggests that we could finally be seeing the return of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series. Most of us assumed the sheer awfulness of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 5 killed off the once-great skateboarding franchise for good - but a new report claims that Activision is now looking back to move forward.
Specifically, it sounds like we can expect remakes of the first two (and best) games in the series. Industry journalist and previously verified sharer of rumours Sabi has the delicious dirt. They claim that Activision has developed remastered prototypes of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2. Prototypes which are allegedly currently being shared around Activision for some unknown reason.
I say unknown reason... I think the reason is fairly obvious. If these prototypes exist, it would suggest that that Activision is planning remakes of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2.This is an incredibly exciting possibility, I'm sure we can all agree.
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Sabi notes that they've known about these demos for a while now, but was unsure whether it was enough to suggest that a new game (or remake) was definitely in development. However, the reports have now been corroborated by fellow journalist Liam Robertson, making the return of Tony Hawk look all the more inevitable.
Back in August this year, Activision confirmed that it was looking into further remasters and remakes. The Crash Bandicoot and Spyro remasters were huge successes after all, which prompted Activision President Rob Kostich to tease that we should "stay tuned for future announcements on remasters of other franchises."
Activision owns the rights to a number of classic franchises from the glory days of the original PS1 of course, but I'd argue that (after Crash and Spyro) none are as popular or as frequently-requested as Tony Hawk's Pro Skater.
The first two games in the series were generation-defining hits that combined tight, combo-based gameplay with creatively designed levels. I mean, Tony Hawk himself recently said he thinks the second game is the best one, which is all the evidence you should need.
Oh, and the soundtracks? The soundtracks for the first two games slapped so hard I can still the feel the sheer force of them in my bones to this day. All of this to say: if Activision announced that the first two games were being remade, people would lose their minds.
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We'll have to wait for official word of course, but it seems like Activision has a lot of exciting stuff up its sleeve right now. Between this and the reports of a brand new Crash Bandicoot game in development, it's a good time for fans of the PS1 era.
Featured Image Credit: ActivisionTopics: Tony Hawk, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, PlayStation, PS1, Activision